All of These Scars
by Holz9364
Summary: Sara Black takes the stage on the 20th anniversary of the war. Telling the crowd the story of the 'mudblood' scar on her Mother's arm and how it inspired her. COMPANION TO 'The 8th Year'. Can be read with or without it. ONESHOT, AU, Dramione.


**All of These Scars**

_**A/N: Just a little oneshot that came to while writing 8**__**th**__** year **__** It's kind of a companion to 8**__**th**__** year, call it an epilogue of sorts I guess. It's related either way. Sorry it took me so long to write it, eek! And also, sorry it's so short!**_

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The hall was busy, jam-packed in fact. The house banners had been replaced for the occasion, and instead the banners bore the crest of Hogwarts. Everyone was chattering under their breath but with so many people talking it still felt loud.

Professor McGonagall was on the stage, and the moment she began to talk the hall fell silent. Even the adults in this room respected her, it was hard not to respect the Headmistress. As I watched her I took a deep breath, sensing that my cue was coming soon. As the Headmistress finished her speech everybody clapped, the sound echoing around the hall and then she called my name, calling me up in front of all of the people in the hall.

I probably should have felt nervous, come to think of it. I was making my way up onto the stage to talk to over a hundred people, the whole school and then the adults that were here too. Most of the people in the great hall were a lot older than me, and as a second year I really was inferior compared to them. I didn't feel nervous though, I felt quite calm, I'm used to the spotlight, I've been in it in some way or another since I was born. My parents are often targeted by the press, they're in the prophet, they get gossiped about in Witch Weekly, walking up onto the stage is nothing new. My Mum used to take me with her when she gave speeches when I was little.

McGonagall smiled at me as I reached the centre of the makeshift stage in the great hall, she took a step back, giving me free reign of the large stage. I smiled back at her, and straightened my back as I looked out into the audience. Before I began to speak I surveyed them, looking for familiar faces. I found them in the front row, my Father looking proud and my Mother looking like she might burst out into tears at any moment. Next to my parents were my Uncle Harry and Aunt Daphne, they both looked proud too as they smiled at me, Uncle Harry gave me a small wave and a nod of encouragement. Everyone was here, Uncle Theo and Aunt Sadie in the front row too, and Aunt Susan was there too, although Uncle Percy was at work so he couldn't make it. My eyes found the students, standing with the Gryffindors were two boys I had grown up close with, they were like my cousins, James Potter and Matthew Longbottom, my close friend Addison Weasley was there too, Aunt Susan's daughter. They were all my age, but we weren't in the same house. As my eyes found the Slytherins my best friends gave me encouraging thumbs up, twin sisters Lexie and Lotus Nott. I gave them a weak smile and ignored my sulking older sister who was sitting nearby them.

Taking a deep breath I put on a smile, just like my Father had taught me and spoke to the large crowd of people in the great hall, 'the theme of this assembly is to talk about the people we think were heroes in the war. I know the importance of today, it marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the fighting, I understand why it's important to celebrate today, but why it's also important to commemorate and look back upon past events,' I paused, everyone in the hall was enthralled, I had a voice like my Father's, it enticed people, it drew them in.

'I think it's as important to remember the people who helped, who fought, in small ways, as well as those who are remembered as _the _biggest heroes that the war brought us,' I said, the audience were caught on every single world I was saying, I smirked on the inside and caught my Father's eye, he winked proudly at me.

'My name is Sara Black, and like others will after me, today I want to talk about my hero,' I said, my voice strong, not even shaking a little, my Mother was right, I would be a good diplomat, but I hate politics, and I doubt that's going to change in the next 4 years.

'My Hero is my Mother, Hermione Black, although she was Hermione Granger first,' I said, and nobody in the hall expected it. My parents faces changed, they went from being happy and smiling to looking surprised, and shocked. Aunt Daphne looked surprised too, but Uncle Harry was smiling, like he had known all along.

'My Mother fought in the war, just like most of my friend's parents did,' I began, of course most people here knew who my Mother was too. How could they not have heard of the great Hermione Granger? Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding worlds, best friend? They had all heard of my Father too, come to think of it. They knew him as the death eater who had reformed, but to me he was just Dad.

'She helped destroy Voldemort and in doing so she faced her greatest and deepest fears,' I risked a glance to my Mother, she had a small frown on her face, she didn't know what was coming next, she probably didn't even know what I was talking about.

'The biggest lesson I have ever learned in my life was from my Mother,' I continued proudly, 'in her own way, without really realising I think, she taught me that our scars don't define us. Our physical, or our mental scars, they don't define who we are,' I glanced to my Mother once more and saw a look of realisation dawn on her face.

'During the second war my Mother got captured and she was tortured because she was a Muggle-born,' I said, holding my head high, 'I didn't know until I was a little older, but I saw scars on her arms. I didn't know what they were, I couldn't even read them until I was a little older,' I said, swallowing and looking to my Mother who was now clinging to my Father a little.

'As such I didn't ask any questions until I was around seven years old,' I continued, I couldn't stop now, not now that I had started, 'I approached my Father one day, completely innocent and naïve and asked him what 'mudblood' meant and why it said that on my Mother's arm.'

There was a gasp of shock and disgust around the room, and my Father squeezed my Mother's hand in a comforting way. My Mother was frowning, she had obviously never heard this story from my Father.

'My Father didn't say anything at first, he just looked shocked that I had asked,' I said honestly, 'then he told me the word I had said was a bad word and that I wasn't to say it again, but I didn't understand why it was written on my Mother's arm if it was bad,' there were saddened nods from the grown-ups in the room.

'In the end my Father sat me down and explained to me, as best he could. Those words have stuck with me, and these are exactly what they were,' I paused and took a breath, 'Sara, your Grandma and Granddad on your Mother's side of the family aren't like us, they don't have magic like we do so that makes them something that we call Muggles. Your Mother was very special because she was born with magic to two Muggles, so she's called a Muggle-born.'

I took another breath, and didn't look at my parents this time as I continued, 'But I still didn't understand what a Muggle-born meant, or why Mudblood was a bad word, or why it was written on my Mothers arm.'

I paused and risked it, glancing at the audience who were still hanging onto my every word. My Mother looked on the verge of tears and with a jolt I felt a little guilty. Then I saw my Father, nodding and smiling at me proudly. It gave the courage to continue, 'So my Father then told me the story that every child with a Muggle-born parent hears at some point in their life. The story about how some people think that Muggle-borns are less of a person because of who their parents are, it helped me understand but I thought it was horrible that people could think that way. When I arrived at Hogwarts and became a Slytherin I got bullied by other people in my classes,' I glanced at the people at the front of the hall who hung their heads, my fellow Slytherins, those who had bullied me.

'I wrote to my Father and asked him why they were calling me a 'blood traitor', I expected him to write back with the answers, but he didn't. Instead he turned up at Hogwarts and said we should go for a walk because he needed to explain some things to me,' I stopped for breath again, smirking again when I realised that I still had the entire crowd under my control.

'My Father then told me some things about his past that I didn't know. He explained that he'd once been one of those Slytherins who bullied other students and he told me that the reason certain Slytherins didn't like me was because of my parent's blood.'

The contempt in my voice was echoed by tuts around the hall, I saw several students and parents shake their heads, 'My Father explained that he was what Wizards think of as a 'pureblood' and that by marrying my Mother he ruined the blood line of the Black family,' I tried to control the shaking in my voice, this story always angered me.

'We sat down by a tree in the school grounds and my Father said he needed to tell me a story he'd been worried about telling me for a long time. He explained that during the war he hadn't been the hero I seemed to think of him as, he explained that he'd been on the wrong side because of who his family was,' the hall had gone silent, everyone was intrigued, 'I was old enough to understand, but I didn't expect the next part of the story.'

I paused once more, composing myself, still surprised by my lack of nerves, although I was a little bit shakier than I had been before I started speaking, 'I never knew my Grandfather on my Father's side of the family very well. All I knew was that he was in Muggle prison, and that he died when I was very young. I didn't ask any further questions about him until I was about to go to Hogwarts and my Father said simply that his Father hadn't been a very nice man,' I saw Dad nod in the front row, tightening his arm on Mum who hadn't actually started crying yet.

'The difficult story that my Father worried about telling me was that my Grandfather in some way was responsible for my Mothers scars. My Father told me the truth that day, despite my age, and I found out for the first time how my Mother got the scars and that the word 'mudblood' was a nasty name for Muggle-borns, he told me that it meant 'dirty blood'. I found out that day that my Grandfather had watched my Mother as she was tortured by his sister-in-law,' I paused, my Mother was in tears now and the hall was disgusted, gasping in surprise, what I had just told everyone wasn't public knowledge.

'You may wonder how this relates to the war, and what it has to do with my Mother being my hero, but in my mind it all clicks together, it all makes perfect sense. My Father felt responsible for what happened to my Mother, it had happened in his house and he hadn't been able to help her without getting killed himself. Yet despite this my Mother returned to school for her final year and despite the odds fell in love with my Father. My Mother is my hero for overcoming what happened to her, for not letting it ruin her life forever. She didn't hold a grudge against my Father for what happened, she forgave him and I think forgiveness is harder than hatred,' my heart jumped a little as I saw my Mum crying in the front row, but I vowed not to cry, and to finish.

'But this all links together. If my Mother hadn't saved my Father by falling in love with him when he felt like he didn't deserved to be loved, then he couldn't have saved someone else who needed it. In my mind my Father is a hero, even if everyone sees him as the evil git who runs St. Mungo's and cuts budgets and decides who gets money.'

There was a faint chuckle around the hall, my Father was the equivalent of a Muggle taxman to many people in the magical community.

'The point I'm making is that the heroes do the small things, not just in the war, but in the aftermath of it too,' I was quite pleased to see that I seemed to have everybody in the hall well and truly confused. However when I caught my Aunt Daphne's eye I realised she knew what I was going to say next, 'after the war my Uncle Harry changed because you very rarely go through the tragedy of a war and emerge the exact same person. I think if it wasn't for my Father my Uncle might have gone off track, my Father became his friend and kept his feet stuck firmly on the ground.'

Uncle Harry was smiling at Sara, nodding in agreement, and my Father was smiling too, my Aunt Daphne looked proud and my Mother was still crying, 'I don't think my Uncle Harry would be the amazing Minister for Magic that he is without my Father. So I think my Father has the same special place in these celebrations as my Mother, and my Uncle Harry, and all the other war heroes do,' I was nearly finished now, and relieved because I was actually shaking slightly now, 'therefore I propose we remember the people who did the small things to make our world the wonderful place it is, not just the people who did the big things!'

I grinned as the hall exploded loudly into claps and cheers, 'Thank you!' I said, still beaming. I curtseyed and hurried off of the stage, down the steps and into the wings. I saw my Mother and my Uncle Harry wipe their eyes, and laughed when I saw my Father and Aunt Daphne look at each other and simultaneously roll their eyes.

Professor McGonagall smiled at me as she passed on her way back up to the stage, 'Thank you Miss. Black,' she said, looking a little teary herself, 'that was an excellent, moving speech.'

'Thank you Professor,' I said happily as the Headmistress made her way back onto the stage. Her presence made the hall fall instantly silent once more.

'I feel that on this day of celebrations, and especially after such a moving speech, it is the perfect time to make an announcement that I have been thinking about for a while now,' McGonagall said loudly, her voice carrying right to the back of the hall, 'I think with Mr. Black running St. Mungo's and Mr. Potter running the Ministry, that now is the right time for our well known and loved Transfiguration teacher, Hermione Black, to take over as Headmistress of Hogwarts so I can retire to my holiday home in the Scottish highlands.'

There was applause and Uncle Harry and Dad both got to their feet and whistled as Professor McGonagall motioned for My Mother to join her on th stage. She blushed bright red, looking incredibly shocked as she walked up towards me to make her way onto the stage.

'That was beautiful sweetheart,' my Mother whispered, kissing me on the cheek on the way past.

Still on a high I grinned, 'Thanks Mum, congratulations!'

My Mother still looked like she was in shock as she made her way onto the stage and gave the audience a shocked, awkward wave. Everyone watched happily as she said she was shocked, but honoured to take on the job, I couldn't stop smiling as I watched, until I realised that my Mother was going to be my Headmistress for the next 4 years that was.

I smiled from the wings as my Mother took her seat once more and Professor McGonagall said, 'Now let us have a one minute silence to think about those who fell 20 years ago in the Second Wizarding War, and those who were lost in the Great Wizarding War.'

The hall fell eerily silent, not even any rustling of cloaks could be heard. I closed my eyes and thought of all my friends who had lost grandparents or Uncles and respected those who had fallen in both of the wars that had left the wizarding world so scarred.

It's ironic, that scars make you stronger, Uncle Harry once told me that you wouldn't be who you are without your scars, that they are a part of you. I understand that, my Mother is strong because of her scars, without them perhaps she wouldn't be quite that strong. I don't have any, but I thought about Uncle Harry's and my Mums and I found myself glad of their scars because they are the two strongest people I know because of them.

**The End **

**A/N: Just a companion oneshot to 8****TH**** year, I didn't want to write anymore of the actual fic at the moment but this just sort of happened, I hope you like it!**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Holly**

**x**


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